WHAT IS SELF-EDUCTION?

by Kent D. Lawson

Each person has an awareness of an inner reality and an outer reality; the inner reality is contacted through percepts, mental feelings, and imagined percepts and feelings; the outer by concepts and things, At any instant, we tend to submerge one of those two aspects of reality and dwell in the other. Life is an opportunity to increase your awareness of inner and outer reality simultaneously, thereby gaining, at the time, an awareness of a higher reality, drawing upon that higher reality to enable others to experience the higher reality, and recognizing that one’s self has become more in the process. The name given to the over all natural process is self-eduction. Self-eduction ordinarily happens very infrequently and then only with great difficulty. Self-eduction procedures have been identified which enable deliberate self-eduction. The use of self-education procedures is having a growing positive impact on the lives of more and more people, whether children or adults, whether students or teachers, whether wage-earners or volunteers, whether at work or at rest, enabling people to be more nearly the unique and invaluable persons they really are, deep inside, bringing them out of themselves to be, to be more, to accomplish, and to he recognized for what they are, making their lives count, having a lasting beneficial influence on others, and gaining satisfaction from living.

So far, instruction in the use of self-eduction procedures has been available only in institutes and courses in one location, Oneonta, New York, at the State University College there.

A significant component of self-eduction is wordless examination of one’s own percepts, mental feelings, and imagination. Words cannot adequately describe wordless introspection and excessive reliance upon words will prevent and replace that introspection and block self-eduction. Nevertheless, a preliminary definition can be stated which is a composite of several aspects of the connotation of self-eduction in the mind of the author; we proceed to quickly examine the extended etymology of the term, self-eduction; outline the training in self-eduction procedures; introduce self-eduction theory; comment on the origin of self-eduction procedures and theory; give a short account of the development of self-eduction institutes and courses; describe the activities in the institutes and courses; relate some of the results of using self-eduction procedures; make some comparison with prior philosophies, theories, and procedures; and mention a few of the broader implications and potential uses of self-eduction procedures and theory.

1. Some extended etymology of the term, self-eduction.

The term, eduction, derives from “educere”, meaning to lead out (in contrast to education – from “educare”, meaning to train), and now has the connotation of being a process of leading out that which is inherently inside another. We lead ourselves out, i.e., we become self-educting, when we make certain kinds of responses to our own emotions and perceptions, especially when our feelings or percepts differ from our own or others’ expectations. Each flash or prolonged surge of anger, frustration, embarrassment, depression, or other inner turmoil becomes an opportunity – an opportunity for growth of ourselves and for the growth of others, if we have learned how to use basic procedures of self-eduction. The same procedures can be used deliberately to motivate and enable us to work and live more effectively, with a greater sense of well–being  and satisfaction.

1. An outline of the training in self-eduction procedures.

Introductory self-eduction institutes and courses provide practice in self-eduction procedures and introduce a theoretical basis for the procedures. The use of eductive procedures requires pre-eductive practice with the procedures in trivial cases, next a preliminary application of the procedures to our own interests, activities, and problems, and finally, the enablement of the self eduction of others by means of our unique characteristics and abilities.

All of the eductive procedures are private mental manipulations  that are either wordless or are various combinations of verbal and nonverbal mental activity. Pre-eductive practice in wordless mental manipulation begins with the registration of present perceptions and emotions, continues with the recall and the reliving of past perceptions and emotions, moves on to imagined perceptions, and ends temporarily with the imagined perception and feeling of one’s self in a variety of past, future, and present situations.

Some of the eventual results include:

• learning to see one’s past stressful situations in such a way that lingering debilitating impact is dissolved, learning to see one’s self objectively at the time he is involved in a situation so he is more nearly able to be his true and better self,
• breaking the hold of habits of procrastination and withdrawal,learning to release tensions and prevent irritations by appropriate reference to perceptions and
• learning to choose to replace incipient harmful negative and diminishing feelings, thoughts, and attitudes with those that are growthful and positive. Important as these and additional related benefits are in themselves, they are unintended and incidental to the main purpose of the pre-deductive practice of wordless mental activity: to enable transition to the pre-eductive practice of subsequent eductive procedures.

Once one learns to escape temporarily the restrictions imposed by words and by supposed rationality, one can begin to achieve simultaneous awareness of inner and outer reality by preliminary practice of pre-deductive alternation and correlation of concepts. The practices well up from wordless and nonlogical consideration of one’s own percepts and feelings that are evoked by the concepts. The practice of pre-eductive alternation and correlation of concepts demonstrates the nonverbal bases for conceptual contrivance and development, shows the inherently unrational nature and the limitations of rational constructs, provides subjective balance to the objective, involves one personally in concepts and rationality, and equips one to practice pre-eductive inquiry and reconstruction of concepts. Pre-eductive inquiry and reconstruction of concepts are necessary links between the grasping of what a concept is and is not and the abstracting of relevant significant concepts.

The practice of pre-eductive construction of concepts and synthesis leads to attempts to represent rationally unrational pre-cognitions and inevitably leads to discrepancies. Pre- eductive coalescence of subjective and objective aspects of the discrepancies leads to a beginning recognition of what eductive response is, what self-eduction might be, and how to achieve self-eduction.

At this point, one is ready to initiate the deliberate use of the eduction procedures with one’s own difficulties and interests. After practice on one’s self with the procedures individually and in combination, one begins to appreciate the value of self-eduction procedures and further, one can begin to sense the probable response by another person when he first encounters pre-deductive procedures. Once one can anticipate from one’s own experience the response of another person, one can begin to enable others, in the context of one’s own innate and acquired abilities, interests, involvement, and characteristics, to begin to practice pre-eduction procedures. In this endeavor, one uses the eduction procedures themselves to create ways and means of generating mutual motivation and involvement and of contriving appropriate use of the procedure for the enablement of the self-eduction of one or more other persons in a particular situation, for example, with a parent, with a child, with a teacher, with a student, with an administrator, with a worker, with a colleague, with a friend, or with an acquaintance.

The procedures do not become fully eductive for any one person and that person’s appreciation for the procedures does not fully blossom until that person extends and continues the procedures for the enablement of the self-eduction of others and then only if the enablement is not sought for the indirect benefit of one’s self.

Knowledge of the se1f-eduction theory underlying the procedures can increase one’s facility in enabling self-eduction in given circumstances, can augment one’s grasp of the full range of meaning of the procedures, can enable one to apply eduction procedures appropriately in more complex situations, and can magnify one’s awe and admiration of the utter comforting simplicity, yet bewilderingly complex beauty and majesty of the universe and of person’s place in it.

 3. An introduction to self-eduction theory.

Self-eduction theory is developing into a fairly simple unified theory of the universe: of the existence and behavior of man, of the existence and behavior of his world, of the inter connections between man and his world, and of the shadowy rest of the universe. It identifies natural processes that go on within man, within the world, and between man and the world. (The technical eduction terms for the major processes will be given without definition or discussion at this time: coalescence, abstraction, multiplexed physical creation, conceptualization, and reification. Coalescence and abstraction, for example, are thought to account nearly alone for the existence of man and the world; multiplexed action to account almost by itself for all physical properties; and conceptualization and reification to account in major part for the behavior of man.) Self-eduction theory explains the relationship between the natural processes and volitional eductive procedures. The eductive procedures facilitate and use the natural processes that contribute to the development of the world and of man and the eductive procedures enable the recognition and avoidance of those natural processes that detract.

 4. Some of the origin of eduction procedures and self-eduction theory.

Eduction procedures and self-eduction theory originated in the author’s college teaching: he happened to have an excellent opportunity to devise and try many new approaches and to obtain much response from students very quickly. In searching for what would enable his students to understand and use a particular academic field, the author eventually found almost unanimous positive reaction. Moreover, it turned out that the students then used these approaches in other courses and with their everyday problems. Interest expressed by colleagues led the author to try to determine basic principles underlying what he had worked out empirically and make the approaches more broadly available. In time, the author recognized and isolated the basic procedures involved in devising, preparing, and presenting the approaches he had developed and in using the techniques he had worked out for the particular academic field.

In the course of his teaching and research, the author applied the procedures to the academic field of physics and a multiplex theory of the physical world resulted. When the procedures were used to determine what had been going on in the author’s mind when he devised and used them, an eductive theory of man was produced. Present self-eduction theory has evolved from a superposition and mutual extension of the two.

 5. Some of the development of self-eduction institutes and courses.

In an effort to share his procedures with others who might use them, the author conducted an institute for a small group of faculty members at two local colleges in the summer of 1971. Administrators of graduate programs for teacher education suggested adapting the institute as a course for elementary and secondary teachers, and it was offered for a trial group. In subsequent summers, the institutes attracted college and school participants from wider areas and in greater numbers. On request, follow-up in-service courses were provided, and these eventually became a combination of weekly cassette-tape mailings back and forth and of monthly visits and meetings. Meanwhile, because of pressure from undergraduates for a self-eduction course, one was developed and run for them. Finally, because of increasing interest expressed by the community, another course was offered for area residents who were neither students nor teachers. In all, about two hundred people participated during the first three years that generally limited-enrollment self-eduction institutes and courses were offered. Probably ten thousand students have been in classrooms and courses at least somewhat influenced during those years by self-eduction theory and practice.

 6. Some of the activities in self-eduction institutes and courses.

The institutes and courses for the first three years consisted of fifteen three-hour sessions. The first half of each session was a form of lecture during which participants engaged in various directed wordless mental activities in addition to thinking verbally along with the lecturer at other times. After a coffee break and spontaneous discussion, groups of about fifteen people assembled for directed mental activity, writing, and discussion. About the first third of the sessions centered on self-eduction procedures, per se, the second third on self-eduction theory and the preliminary application of the theory and procedures to one’s own interests and problems, and the last third on the enablement of others’ eduction, and enablement appropriate to the particular institute, such as during teaching, learning and research, working in general, or living in toto. Summer institutes usually met five days a week for three weeks; during the academic year, once a week for fifteen weeks.

During the first five three-hour sessions, almost no cues were given participants about which of their perceptions they should register, what they should feel, what they should think, or, in many instances, even what they should focus their attention on. Because most people are familiar only with courses liberally supplied with cues, nearly all of them developed strong resentment initially. The resentment was compounded in highly rationalistic and articulate people by the postponement, during wordless mental activity, of discussions of purpose and theoretical basis. Without the postponement, silent verbal activity is endlessly substituted for wordless. A small percentage of the people who enrolled were not ready for wordless introspection and the accompanying moderate amounts of uncertainty and vagueness and they dropped out early. A few others did not participate mentally or did not complete the extensive homework assignments but remained as observers. (This is no longer allowed.) Enthusiastic volunteers helped the institutes to operate – at first, students from the author’s regular courses, later, participants from previous institutes.

 7. Some of the results of using self-eduction procedures.

At the end of institutes and courses, all who actually participated fully and regularly, felt favorably disposed toward the institute, toward self-eduction, and toward their future application of it. Some people continued to meet regularly after the institutes ended and some repeated their participation in the introductory institute a second time.

To single out one category of people who have used self eduction procedures extensively for a year or more after participation in an institute or course, elementary and secondary school teachers who have used eduction procedures in preparing and presenting their classroom work, without exception report increased academic achievement by their students, fewer discipline and attendance problems, and markedly better attitude of their students and of themselves.

An art teacher who saw 850 students in grades one through six once a week for forty minutes in groups of about twenty-five found that first-graders, for example, were consistently drawing both realistic and imaginative trees, whereas formerly, “lollipop” trees had persisted at least until fourth grade. Her students functioned more independently, creatively, and maturely and with much less detailed direction than formerly. One student was newly determined to be the first in his family to complete high school so that he could take a course in self-eduction and be like his art teacher. (Self-eduction theory and practice can probably be made directly available to the very young.) A regional art exhibit director who happened to see some of the work the art teacher’s students had done asked to be allowed to display the work. A teacher of high school business courses, as a result of using self-eduction theory, created a unique classroom-office and arranged to have his students do much of the actual business and office work of the school. He says his students work like beavers, take great pride in their work, have changed their attitude toward the school, feeling it is their school, and have changed his attitude toward teaching business courses.

Several teachers remarked that their entire approach to teaching has changed. Whereas they formerly mainly presented the material and left the rest to the students, they now actually involve themselves and their students in the work and for the first time are enjoying teaching. Their students are reluctant to leave classes, even in summer school. Some have pointed out the impact of the new teaching on low achievers, now that students realize their thoughts and ideas have value. Others have mentioned a healthier classroom atmosphere: where once students disparaged other students, argued, and formed cliques, there is now tolerance, and the students help each other. And the teachers realize that they themselves are different and that their use of self-eduction theory has spilled over into their own lives, to their surprise and pleasure. Some have told of the improved relations with their spouse and children, for example. Others have said they don’t get as frustrated and that their problems are fewer in number.

The progress of elementary and secondary teachers and their students in the various academic and vocational areas is paralleled by the intellectual and creative insights and accomplishment of college faculty members and their students and by other professionals and amateurs who have used eduction procedures in many fields to a significant extent so far. Some have found their field opened and revitalized and their interest and activity in it renewed. Others report achieving their best intellectual work, whether writing or research, by using self eduction theory and procedures. Students who have completed eductive versions of regular college courses repeatedly insist they have learned to think for themselves, that their attitudes and lives have changed, that they like themselves better, and that they have renewed hope and confidence in themselves and in the world.

 8. Some comparison with prior philosophies, theories, and procedures.

Self-eduction theory and procedures were gradually developed in the mind of the author without deliberate reference to existing philosophy, theory, or practice; in fact, prior work was actively eschewed, lest the integrity of self-eduction be impaired.

Self-eduction procedures free, motivate, and enable people to evolve their own philosophy of reality and living. This follows, in part because probably no philosophy is entirely contradicted by self-eduction, although it is likely that some part of each is. Self-eduction seems to be basic enough and broad enough to touch each viewpoint and imbue it with a self-eductive validity. Yet self-eduction is not eclectic – it did not evolve from other viewpoints nor is it equivalent to any combination of viewpoints. The basic and broad nature of self-eduction makes it seem at first to be similar to any particular viewpoint a person has in mind. The apparent similarity eventually vanishes.

The comments that have been made about the relationship between self-eduction and existing philosophies apply as well to self-eduction vis-a-vis theories of psychology, theories of education, and theories of the universe.

Since the mental activity during eduction procedures is entirely private, there is no need to expose one’s thoughts or feelings to others as in psychoanalysis or encounter sessions. On the other hand, self-eduction contains many elements beyond those involved in meditation or introspection.

 9. Some of the broader implications and potential uses of self-eduction procedures and theory.

The very frustrations, difficulties, troubles and weaknesses that bog down our thoughts and actions and that prevent us from living up to our full potential are the raw material that eduction procedures transform. The use of self-eduction procedures seems to enable many people to cope to a larger degree with the acute and chronic, minor and major problems of living, to free them from bondage to many of their past errors, faults, and inadequacies, and to set them on the road to deliberate and joyful accomplishment. There seems to be no limit to the extent we can change our own world or to the extent we can enable others to change theirs.

The only real way to find out about self-eduction is to practice and use eduction procedures. One can reasonably feel a reluctance to do so without knowing more about what it will be like, both from a natural uncertainty about the unknown and from a concern about possibly being manipulated or changed into something other than what one is or wants to be. Anyone is free at any time to stop. Further, it seems that no one can use self-eduction procedures to manipulate or modify another person, however subtly, but only to enable another person to free himself and use eduction procedures as and if he freely chooses. One probably cannot actually use eduction procedures or self-eduction theory for selfish advantage or for the disadvantage of others, because his own self-eduction arises as an unintended by-product during the enablement of the self-eduction of others. An almost inevitable consequence of the use of the procedures is the desire to enable others to use the procedures as they will.

September, 1974

Copyright The Estate of Kent D. Lawson, and Brian Foley

The latest information about the availability of self-eduction institutes and courses for elementary and secondary school teachers, counselors, and administrators, or college faculty members, or undergraduate or graduate students, or general community residents can be obtained by contacting us on the contact page, as can information about other aspects of self-eduction or the Self-Eduction Program, such as about research and development of self-eduction theory and its application.